Metro Pacific Investments Corp. subsidiary MPCALA Holdings Inc., which broke ground for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) yesterday, expects to seal before the end of the month the P23.6 billion loan agreement with banks to fund the construction of the project.

“We should be closing the deal this month,” MPCALA Holdings president and chief executive officer Luigi Bautista told reporters during the groundbreaking ceremony.

Bautista said the groundbreaking marks the start of the construction work for the 18-kilometer (km) Laguna segment of the Calax.

Last March, MPCALA Holdings signed the contract with DM Consunji Inc. for the construction of the Laguna segment.

Bautista said MPCALA Holdings expects to sign the contract for the construction of the Cavite segment of Calax with Leighton of Australia before the end of this month.

He said MPCALA Holdings hopes to start construction for the Cavite section in September.

“We expect to complete the construction and start commercial operation of the toll road within the third to fourth quarters of 2020,” Bautista said.

The whole Calax project, which will have eight interchanges and one main toll barrier, is expected to reduce travel time from Cavitex to SLEX by 45 minutes.

“The road construction project from Tirona Highway to the end of Greenfield near Mamplasan Exit in Laguna will be closely monitored so that by 2020, our travel time from Cavitex to SLEX will be reduced to only 45 minutes,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

The project is part of the 45-kilometer closed system modern tolled expressway awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways to private concessionaire MPCALA Holdings Inc. of the Metro Pacific Group which won the competitive bidding under the government’s public private partnership program.

“Calax will be one of the most advanced highway in the Philippines. It expected to ease traffic congestion along Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway and Santa Rosa Tagaytay Road,” Villar said.